I recently got a rifle that appears to be by Parker Otto Ackley.  It is on a pre-WW2 Mauser action, not an interarms mkx.  It has a very nice piece of wood, not glass bedded,with a beavertail forend and is drilled and tapped for a scope mount, two holes on the front receiver ring and one on the back.... and has a "Mashburn Arms Co." trigger, and a Buehler safety to accomodate a scope.

It is marked p.o.ackley in very small script on the top of the barrel, and .257 rob. on the side of the chamber in front of the receiver ring.  It is, in fact, a 257 Roberts chamber, not an A.I. chamber.

It uses the military k98 bottom metal, with the trigger guard slimmed, otherwise as made by mauser.

There are no markings on the receiver to tell which arsenal manufactured it (likely turned off or buffed out), but everything is nicely blued and doesn't appear to be a re-blue....certainly not anything recently done.

I believe it is an authentic P.O.Ackley made rifle, from the 30's, most likely when his shop was in Oregon, before he moved to Salt Lake City (it is not marked slc anywhere).

However, when I got the rifle it had a Leupold/Redfield one-piece scope base that was very poorly fitted.... the rear screw hole is too close to the front screw holes for everything to line up properly, and the rear underside of the mount was "hogged out" with a grinder (very poorly done).  The "hump" on the front of the rear receiver ring has not been touched.  I believe this work was not done by Ackley, since the barrel is drilled and tapped for an external-adjustment target scope.

So, here's my question, and my plan for the scope mount.  Given all the information, is it likely an authentic P.O.Ackley manufactured/stocked rifle?
And, I've ordered a two-piece leupold mount for a 98 mauser, with Leupold rings.  I plan on installing the rear mount with only one screw, and perhaps glass (steelbed) bedding it.  Should this approach work?

I'd like to also slim down the stock to better suit a hunting rifle, but am reluctant if it is an Ackley-made stock.  It has some nice feather-crotch pattern.  I may just get a Boyds stock and keep the original stock as-is.

I totally agree with your last sentence. On the chance it is a PO Ackley, don't butcher it. But I'll tell you, 257 Roberts is an incredible cartridge.